JAN.18.2025 - #07

The best keyboards of 2024, good news, sad news, and announcements galore!

Hi all 👋, welcome to this week’s issue of clicks ’n clacks! It’s been a cold week here in Canada, so I hope everyone is staying warm and safe. I’ve got some astonishing links to share with you all this week, so let jump right into it!

This week, while writing this issue I’ve been playing Doom in my browser (because the list of where you can play Doom is now much bigger than the list where you can’t play it), testing out the new PixelFed iOS app, reading some good news about video game preservation, reading some melancholic news about read.cv shutting down, and watching the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal (yes, that’s really what they are calling it) and the Daredevil: Born Again trailer.

Now onto the clicks!!

clicks đź”—

  • You’re a curious one, aren’t you?

    → This is a short, sweet, and very intriguing article about how humans present different curiosity-styles when navigating, curating, and discovering information. The three styles of curiosity are hunter (focused, targeted, specific), busybody (loosely browsing, exploring, nomadic), and dancer (elusive, unrelated topics, “leaps” between connections). This article succinctly summarizes the full study (which, if you have the time, I highly recommend you read here), which tracked users who used the mobile Wikipedia app and correlated that data to the curiosity-styles and specific topics of information. I won’t spoil the whole article but I find it so interesting to see this done with such a large dataset to discover this incredible insight into how humans weave their web of thoughts and knowledge.

  • Orbit - Subscription Tracker

    → This app, made by Joshua Newton, helps you keep track of those seemingly endless subscriptions, free-trials, and renewal dates that sneak up on you. Everything seems to be a yearly/monthly/weekly/daily/seconds-ly subscription nowadays (I also love that the full version of Orbit is not) and I recently just completed a big 2025 resolution of canceling everything I didn’t need with the help of Orbit. I was using the app in TestFlight beta for the past month or so, and now it’s available for everyone! If you feel drowned and lost in a sea of subscriptions, I really think you should check this out to help you get organized and save some $$$$, it really helped me out.

  • More mini-computers because I definitely have a problem

    → Shout-out to Stephen on Bluesky who forwarded this to me—the Mecha Comet. The Comet is an open-source mini-computer with hot-swappable face-plates/extensions and will be available on Kickstarter soon. My favorite feature about the Comet is the form-factor—it looks much more reasonably sized and truly handheld when compared to other devices I’ve discovered recently (it could even be used as a mobile phone!).

clacks ⌨️

  • Best keebs of 2024

    → First up on the list of clacks this week is a year-end review of all keyboards released in 2024. These are picked by alexotos, and also features community-voted picks (from his Discord) for each category as well. I agree with a majority of his picks here and he nicely outlines some of the biggest trends in the hobby for 2024. Additionally, I love the “Best New Brand / Designer” category as well—aside from featuring cool boards, I think it’s especially important to feature the amazing and inspiring people behind the keebs. Earlier in the year, Alex also wrote about the best switches in 2024, which I believe may be updated soon for the end of 2024. Speaking of switches, I’d also like to highlight another article by Keyboard Builders’ Digest that outlines the best-selling switches at the end of 2024, a super neat insight into some vendors and the hottest switches right now!

  • Ergo-keyboard custom fit to your hand

    → This is a next-level keyboard tool to create incredibly custom ergonomic split keyboards. Cosmos, currently in beta, is an open-source program made by @rianadon, which allows you to scan your hand (using just your phone’s camera) to create a super-custom keyboard, fit just for you! You can use the program all on the web, and generate ready-to-use CAD files to 3D-print the custom designs. It’s got support for so many parts, and so much customization. It’s inspired by the Dactyl keyboard—a popular DIY, concave, split ergonomic keyboard. I have yet to dive into the world of DIY keyboards, but this tool and all the documentation/support surrounding it really gives me the confidence to start.

  • Custom keeb with throwback vibes

    → Last up is a nostalgia filled custom keyboard, built by reddit user “KartochtheTerrible”. This GameCube themed keyboard features the Bauer Lite by Omnitype body, Gateron Beer switches, Durock V3 stabilizers, and custom keycaps from Yuzu Keycaps. This is one of the first times I’ve seen Yuzu keycaps (mentioned way back in Issue #01) on a board and I love the look of them! It’s wonderful seeing users create their own designs and showcase their fantastic ideas.

That’s all for this week! I hope you enjoyed it, and now it’s time to hear from YOU 🫵. I want to know your opinion—what you liked, what you loved, what you didn’t like, what you skipped. Reach out at mail.clicksnclacks.com (or reply to this email!) and have a great weekend!!